The music video tells a story through the character's failed attempt to escape from a changing world where he no longer feels he belongs. It can also be interpreted as an allegory for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, with the character running from people whose black eyes symbolize the encroaching lava and ash that killed thousands. Through its use of natural landscapes, darkness, and pained vocals/imagery, the video conveys themes of sadness, not belonging, and impending doom through both its narrative and allegorical elements.

2. Genre Conventions
dark
performance
based
live
narrative
n a t u r a l s e t t i n g
Emphasis
on music

3. With the music sub-genre Indie you would usually
expect there to be lots of use of the natural landscape
and environment in the video. This can be seen in
“Pompeii” when Dan (the lead singer) is running away
and finds himself in a hilly, almost desert like landscape.
The use of extreme long shots, rather than close ups of
the artist, show that the natural landscape is significant.
Another key convention of Indie is the extensive use of
the colour black, this is particularly noticeable when
contrasted to the really bright and colourful music
videos of the pop genre. In “Pompeii” this can be
observed as a large section of the video is taking place
outside at night time. The colour black is also more
subtly hinted at through the costume of the artist and
the blackness of the abnormal people’s eyes the singer
is running away from.

4.  He seems to be singing about things
changing around him ,so much so that he
no longer feels like he belongs there
anymore. (“If you close your eyes, does it
almost feel like nothing’s changed at all”).
This is reflected visually by the people
with the abnormal eyes who he is running
away from because they are taking over
and he feels like he doesn’t belong
because he isn’t one of them.
 He also sings about darkness (“Bringing
darkness from above”) which is reflected
in multiple ways visually…
• The abnormal people’s eyes
• The lighting is very dark as it’s mainly
filmed at night time
 And more metaphorically The darkness
could be the people themselves because
more and more of the people he comes
across are like that and so it’s as if it is
spreading.

5.  The tone of the vocals in the track is
very pained at times, with the voice
sounding almost like whaling. This is
matched with the mise en scene of
the dark lighting and the visuals of
him running away, which in turn
connotes sadness and a sense of not
belonging. Therefore the music and
visuals both work together to make
the audience feel downcast.
 The almost futuristic sounds, created
by the use of electronic instruments,
also matches the plot of the narrative.
This strange disease that seems to
be taking over people could be in the
future, especially because the town
looks deserted, hinting at a post
apocalyptic world in the future.

6.  Yes there are a number of medium close pus
throughout the video. However, instead of
being of the whole band they are only of the
lead vocalist Dan Smith. This could be a part
of his own star image, suggesting that he is
the main one in the band.
 Also adding to Dan’s star motif in the medium
close ups could be his simplistic dark style of
a t-shirt and leather jacket, connoting he isn’t
too concerned about fashion and making him
seem more relatable.
 I would tend to suggest the medium close ups
are more for narrative purposes than star
image. Because it’s more about what his
character is going through rather than the
actual artist. Which is shown through the non-
direct eye contact with the camera and the
pained facial expressions.

7.  In the video there is no real reference to
Mulvey’s theory about the male gaze
 As shown opposite the artist/main character
does look at women, however his gaze is in
no way sexualising them. This is obvious
because the medium close up shows him
staring straight into their eyes and the shot
of them is a simple two shot showing very
little of their bodies. Their costumes also
reflect this because they aren’t wearing
really short, revealing clothes.
 I think this non-sexualisation of women is a
convention of the Indie genre, because it is
more focused on selling the music rather
than the “star image” of the artists. And so
where as other genres try to sell their stars
as being sexy (if female) or desirable to
females (if male) the Indie genre is more
concerned about selling the music they
make.

8.  The music video is presented as a story following a
character’s attempt to escape from the world, which he
ultimately fails.
 However, it has also been said by the band that the
video and song is an “allegory” for the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii (hence the name) and so it
can also be seen as a concept video. The character in
the video is running from the creepy people whose
black eyes symbolise the lava/ash of the volcano
which engulfed and killed thousands of people. This is
represented in the video because he tries to run away
from the impending darkness but he too eventually
succumbs to the darkness (which can also be seen as
death).